Best Buy To Exit Physical Media Business In 2024 (1 Viewer)

[Capt D McMars]

Unfortunately, it is what it is. Really just the nature of this bizz and market...

Hopefully, what remains will still provide enough for us physical media fans...

_Man_

I got ya, but with the formation of companies like Kino, Film Masters, Deaf Crocodile and Criterion...the number of titles may be reduced but I hold out hope, as we all do that collect these, that it will continue in some form.

 

[Mike Frezon]

From the article, "This includes not just their in-store Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD sales, which the retailer has been gradually phasing out for a couple of years now in their many store locations nationwide, but online sales as well. This means no more Best Buy-exclusive Steelbook titles, and no more titles from Best Buy period."

So basically, all we'll be able to find is equipment and appliances? Quite appalling.

I’ve also read about Target cutting back/phasing out media. One store near me has cut back to a 16 ft run plus 2 end caps for CDs/DVDs/LPs TOTAL. A larger store a little further away has maybe twice that but it’s nothing compared to even a few years ago.

This has all become apparent.

The Weekly RoundUp--which tracks prices for new releases--has dropped from a half-dozen featured retailers to just three over the last twenty years. (Remember Circuit City?! ) Once Best Buy is done, it'll be down to Amazon and Target. And based on what's happening in-store at Target, I wouldn't be surprised if they end up pulling out of software, too.

I just had a depressing walk through my local BB yesterday (same store as Wayne_j) and found a store that looked NOTHING like a Best Buy of even five years ago.

The only constant in life is change.

 

[bmasters9]

Heath of Cereal at Midnight on this Best Buy matter:

 

[Jake Lipson]

Sadly, this isn't much of a surprise.

I use Amazon for the bulk of my Blu-ray purchases but have gone to Best Buy for Disney titles where I don't trust Amazon to get them to me in a timely manner, as well as for the occasional steelbook.

This week, my store got three copies of Snow White 4K in the keepcase edition and three copies of their exclusive steelbook. I bought one of the keepcase copies. According to the website, the other two copies, as well as all three of the steelbooks, are still in stock. The website shows me when there are only three or fewer copies in stock, and that's all they ever had listed. This would suggest that I am the only person who bought Snow White from my store this week.

According to my Best Buy online account, I've bought nine Blu-rays there this year. One of those was a gift for a friend which I got because it was on clearance pricing. Another one was because I had a $5 coupon and the disc was on sale for $5.99. So I spent next to nothing on that one. So if you take those two out, I've ordered seven Blu-rays from Best Buy this year at what could be considered regular pricing. That's certainly not a lot. If other people are behaving similarly, it's not hard to understand why Best Buy would choose to take this step.

 

[ahollis]

I haven’t been in a Best Buy store in over 6 years.

 

[dpippel]

I haven’t been in a Best Buy store in over 6 years.

The last time I visited Best Buy was about a month ago. ALL the registers were closed down, and they were funneling every single customer through the Online Order Pickup/Returns counter to check out, where two disgruntled employees were handling all three functions. The kid who rang me up said that management was doing this several days a week "to save money."

Methinks that Best Buy has deeper problems than poor physical media sales.

 

[Dick]

Ah, remember the days...

A brand new Best Buy opens in a very busy shopping mall, and there are aisles upon aisles of DVD's and later Blu-rays. Takes over an hour to give them more than a cursory glance as we walk between those packed shelves, organized by genre. Prices were reasonable, staff on the floor knew the products, and there was generally someone wearing that blue vest within a moment's search. They also carried high-end electronics, only a few storefronts distanced from Tweeter, where newfangled plasma displays were on sale (although, back then, the technology kinda sucked). Circuit City was right across the street. Endless walls of big screen t.v.s were stacked three high, blaring oversaturated, ultra-high-contrast images. Super VHS recorders were the new big thing (but, then, so was Divx).

Pretty much all gone now. It only took about 25 years to happen.

I'd give in and say, yup, we had a good run, but it's over now.

But we still have heroes. We know who they are: the niche companies that still believe our world needs to have the choice of owning a physical disc we can hold in our hands, the same way I once held a reel of Super 8mm film I am readying for projection, or a 16mm reel in a high school booth, or a 35mm reel in a theater.

Despite the pervasiveness of digital streaming / theatrical projection, MOVIES YOU CAN TOUCH AND HOLD AND THREAD UP OR LOAD IN, AND SHARE WITH AN APPRECIATIVE AUDIENCE need not be a thing of the past.

Here is another massive THANK YOU to Kino, Warner Archives, Paramount, Shout!/Scream Factory, Cohen, 3D Film Archives, occasionally Disney, Criterion and a small handful of others who keep us happy with classic releases.

 

[Indy Guy]

The trouble with the race to streaming by the studios and the resulting abandonment of physical media by retailers is in the faulty script they orchestrated from the get go.
Humans are enticed by free candy but there's usually a catch. The banquet of streaming options was set up like a candy store without a business plan for profitability. More subscribers...that's always the answer to the profitability question!. Unfortunately the number of people enjoying free candy has nothing to do with the cost to make and market it.
Conservatively, the amount once spent by middle class families on theater tickets, disc rentals & sales was probably north of $50 per month.
For streaming to be profitable, similar numbers must be reached or underwritten by advertising. If either happens, most subscribers will moderate the added cost by dropping in & out after a month of binging. The higher the subscription pricing, the more frequent cancelations will likewise occur.
Having Netflix, Disney+ and Max at your fingertips for at least $150/month (conservative number for profit + content generation) won't fly for a lot of people.
Studios never warmed to the loss of ownership and control with physical media, but they loved the profits it generated. Their greed to control content and reduce physical costs, overlooked one major aspect... the profitability of streaming.
Of course, it will require the elimination of physical media to demand the major price increases necessary to achieve profit. That is much easier with the elimination of a competitive alternative.
As to Best Buy...I went to my "once a week" store on Tuesday for what turned out to be the last time. My goal was to pick up 4K Snow White only to find no copies available. When I asked the manager "What's up?" He said this Best Buy store will be closing in 2 weeks!
People buy washing machines, refrigerators and appliances once every 10 years. Physical media drove customers to the stores every week. How many impulse buys like thumb drives and phone accessories will now only happen when you upgrade your vacuum cleaner? Au revoir Best Buy.

 

[Traveling Matt]

Sure wish it had been Best Buy that went under instead of Fry’s. Their stores were so huge they had room for everything they carried. Not a day goes by when I don’t miss that store.

Same. I think of them often when looking for local solutions, and not just discs.

 

[EricSchulz]

This has all become apparent.

The Weekly RoundUp--which tracks prices for new releases--has dropped from a half-dozen featured retailers to just three over the last twenty years. (Remember Circuit City?! ) Once Best Buy is done, it'll be down to Amazon and Target. And based on what's happening in-store at Target, I wouldn't be surprised if they end up pulling out of software, too.

I just had a depressing walk through my local BB yesterday (same store as Wayne_j) and found a store that looked NOTHING like a Best Buy of even five years ago.

The only constant in life is change.

@Mike Frezon I still miss the days of getting you the inside scoop on the upcoming Target deals! I can’t believe that was almost 18 years ago.

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

Literally the only reason I go to Best Buy. Oh, well... Best Bye.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Physical media drove customers to the stores every week.

Some, yes. But the problem here is that fewer people care about buying physical media these days than used to be the case.

I was able to find Snow White at my store this week, but they only had three copies each of the two editions. I bought one copy for $22.99. The website indicates that the others are still there. If only a handful of people are coming into the store to buy physical media, it probably doesn't matter if the store loses those sales

 

[PMF]

Thank God for Barnes & Noble and Criterion.

And please, no naysayers or realists with insights about that future. Please, just let us few be left alone to savor the moment of what we have remaining at this given time.

 

[Carl David]

The trouble with the race to streaming by the studios and the resulting abandonment of physical media by retailers is in the faulty script they orchestrated from the get go.
Humans are enticed by free candy but there's usually a catch. The banquet of streaming options was set up like a candy store without a business plan for profitability. More subscribers...that's always the answer to the profitability question!. Unfortunately the number of people enjoying free candy has nothing to do with the cost to make and market it.
Conservatively, the amount once spent by middle class families on theater tickets, disc rentals & sales was probably north of $50 per month.
For streaming to be profitable, similar numbers must be reached or underwritten by advertising. If either happens, most subscribers will moderate the added cost by dropping in & out after a month of binging. The higher the subscription pricing, the more frequent cancelations will likewise occur.
Having Netflix, Disney+ and Max at your fingertips for at least $150/month (conservative number for profit + content generation) won't fly for a lot of people.
Studios never warmed to the loss of ownership and control with physical media, but they loved the profits it generated. Their greed to control content and reduce physical costs, overlooked one major aspect... the profitability of streaming.
Of course, it will require the elimination of physical media to demand the major price increases necessary to achieve profit. That is much easier with the elimination of a competitive alternative.
As to Best Buy...I went to my "once a week" store on Tuesday for what turned out to be the last time. My goal was to pick up 4K Snow White only to find no copies available. When I asked the manager "What's up?" He said this Best Buy store will be closing in 2 weeks!
People buy washing machines, refrigerators and appliances once every 10 years. Physical media drove customers to the stores every week. How many impulse buys like thumb drives and phone accessories will now only happen when you upgrade your vacuum cleaner? Au revoir Best Buy.

Yep.

Have posted quite a bit on this topic.

The major streaming companies are losing a lot of money and they have only managed to get this far due to cheap low interest credit.

The service is certainly not cheap to provide and there is going to be major changes to the industry inn the coming years.

Price rises and less competition in the sector as either small companies get bought out or go bankrupt.

My thoughts on the matter have always been there is probably a market for 2 streaming companies at best.

Fully expect to see only 2 major businesses left providing the service once the dust settles.

We will see what happens to the streaming model once prices go higher and choices get reduced.

That will probably help physical media too.

Hollywood put all their eggs in one basket hoping everyone would be herded into streaming.

That didn't quite happen to their expectations.

I think they will be surprised what most people's pricing threshold is too where they cancel subscriptions.

My assumption is it will be below the level required for streaming companies to be profitable.

It's going to be interesting to see this dynamic play out in the coming years.

 

[Andy Dwyer]

Thank God for Barnes & Noble and Criterion.

And please, no naysayers or realists with insights about that future. Please, just let us few be left to savor the moment, and of what we have remaining at this given time.

Our local B&N has slimmed down most of their disc media. They probably carry more vinyl now than cd or dvd and blu ray. Im sure in time they will exit both and use the space for other gift related stuff they try to sell

 

[Indy Guy]

Yep.

Have posted quite a bit on this topic.

The major streaming companies are losing a lot of money and they have only managed to get this far due to cheap low interest credit.

The service is certainly not cheap to provide and there is going to be major changes to the industry inn the coming years.

Price rises and less competition in the sector as either small companies get bought out or go bankrupt.

My thoughts on the matter have always been there is probably a market for 2 streaming companies at best.

Fully expect to see only 2 major businesses left providing the service once the dust settles.

We will see what happens to the streaming model once prices go higher and choices get reduced.

That will probably help physical media too.

Hollywood put all their eggs in one basket hoping everyone would be herded into streaming.

That didn't quite happen to their expectations.

I think they will be surprised what most people's pricing threshold is too where they cancel subscriptions.

My assumption is it will be below the level required for streaming companies to be profitable.

It's going to be interesting to see this dynamic play out in the coming years.

You are so right! And my point is...
human nature always takes the easiest path and they were led to believe streaming was both easier to access and cheaper.
There is going to be a day of reckoning for streaming providers when the hundreds of millions being lost slams the door on their ability to create new content without theatrical revenue or disc sales to underwrite those costs.

 

[Edwin-S]

They have pretty well been out of the physical movie disc business for years. Their disc selection is pathetic. Best Buy management thinks selling LEGO Bonsai trees is a.much better fit for.an electronics/appliance store than movies on disc.

 

[Andy Dwyer]

They have a much better chance selling that Lego, especially during holidays, than many 4K discs.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

In the last couple of months i purchased from Best Buy Walkabout, The Trial, Star Trek: Picard and Ran SteelBook using my reward points so i will be sad to see the discs go just like what happened to Borders. It was at Best Buy where i purchased my first laserdisc player and rented out the Criterion version of Blade Runner and later the laserdisc/dvd combo player.

 

[JC Riesenbeck]

One person with "unnamed" or "unconfirmed" sources reports something that can't be verified and the entire internet goes crap. Same old same old. The sky is falling. And now....you can't log onto the one source who relied on the same unnamed sources. Nothing changes. Play it again, Sam. Click click click. The sky is falling! The Sky is falling!